


A Mile In Their Shoes

by MizMahem



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, Identity Swap, M/M, Multi, Other, POV Third Person Limited, Personality Swap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2019-10-29 00:03:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17797268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizMahem/pseuds/MizMahem
Summary: An unfortunate incident forces Team JNPR to learn more about each other, whether they want to or not.





	1. Blast-Off

**Author's Note:**

> The chart in the footnotes may be helpful in keeping track of who's who. It is a slight spoiler, however.

**Chapter 1. Blast-Off**

The chambers of a strange revolving grenade launcher slowly began to spin under the influence of some external force. It's wielder, a short, chesty, orange-haired girl, held the weapon in front of her, teeth gritted, as its speed increased, a faint hum filling the clearing as electricity seeped out of it. The energy flowed into her hands, and she started to glow with a subtle yellow aura as the power filled her.

Behind her, stood a tall blond boy, in partial armor, his hands on her shoulders. He too began to glow as he tapped into the energy filling the girl, transferring some portion of it to him.

“I think it’s working!” the blond said, glancing back at his two remaining teammates, a redhead in a bronze corset, and a black haired boy in a green tailcoat, both with their hair pulled back in ponytails. They shared a look, and cautiously placed their hands on the blond's shoulders in turn.

“I can feel it,” the redhead said with a gasp, as the glow began to suffuse their bodies as well. As it did, the chambers of the grenade launcher began to spin faster and faster, the flow of energy growing from a mere trickle to a steady stream.

“I’ve never felt this much power!” the blond exclaimed, glowing brighter by the minute as the energy reached new heights.

“Yeah… do you think we should stop now though?” The black-haired boy said, also starting to glow with energy, a worried look on his face.

The launchers chambers were now a blur, emitting a constant stream of crackling energy. The girl holding it was practically shining, an insane grin on her face as she gripped the bucking weapon with superhuman strength.

The blond nodded, and moved as if to release his grip, but was unable to, muscles clenched tight in a kind of rictus, locking his hands to her. Electricity was now sparking off him as well, waring with the aura of energy that saturated him.

“I can’t let go,” he said, looking back at his companions in panic, seeing that they were locked to him in turn. Electricity now coursed through the entire group, following the same path the energy did. Looks of fright reached their faces as they realized they too were unable to break the connection.

The spinning chambers increased even further in speed, producing a terrifying whine moving clearly out of all control. The aura surrounding the team shined brighter and brighter as the power flowed between them, clashing and intermingling, reaching feverish, unfathomable heights, the clearing glowing with brilliant light.

Then, all at once there was a tremendous ‘thoome’ as the cartridges within the launcher detonated simultaneously, blowing the group apart and extinguishing the light, plunging the clearing into darkness.

* * *

Jaune was the first to awaken. His head throbbed, and he coughed, rubbing his eyes. A thick cloud of dust filled the clearing, obscuring his sight and making his eyes water.

“Pyrrha? Ren? Nora?”

His voice sounded wrong, too high pitched, but Jaune ignored it as he tried to scramble to his feet, tumbling over in the process. His body felt weird and uncoordinated, but he sat up on his knees, looking for any sign of his friends. He heard movement over to his left and crawled that way, coughing and waving away the dust.

The clearing around them was destroyed, replaced with a large crater. The group had been blown apart, Ren having landed face down on its outer rim. He looked okay though, rolling over onto his back, and shaking his head. He looked up at Jaune and smiled widely, showing some teeth.

“Let’s do that again!” Ren said trying to get their feet under them, but also stumbling unsteadily, grabbing onto Jaune for balance. “That was awesome!”

“Uh, yeah… you feeling alright? You hit your head?” Jaune asked, concerned.

“I feel GREAT!” he said enthusiastically. “Well, head hurts a little, but great! I could lift a mountain!”

“Right… maybe, maybe you should sit down for a second, and let me check on the others.”

Ren nodded, falling back with a thump, and Jaune took a second to look him over. The wide grin looked strange on the normally placid boy’s face. Shaking his head, he tried to stand again, managing it this time, though he still felt unsteady on his feet. Everything felt weird, as if his toes were pitched at the wrong angle, his height was wrong, and his center of balance was off. He ignored it and pressed on, worried about his friend.

Around him, the dust started to clear, and he called out again. “Hey, Pyrrha? Ren’s acting a little weird.”

“I feel a little weird,” came a familiar voice in response. Jaune stumbled in that direction, but stopped as he came across Nora, who was sitting up with a groan.

“Nora, you okay!?” Jaune asked, falling back to her knees in front of her.

“I said I feel great!” came Ren’s voice again.

Putting Ren’s weirdness out of his mind, he checked Nora over. Being at the center of the explosion she had gotten the worst of it looked like. It looked like her aura had protected her the worst of it, but only barely. She probably had one hell of a headache, and looked dazed, her eyes having a hard time focusing on him.

Concerned, he pried Magnhild from her hands, unsurprised she had managed to retain a hold on her prized weapon. The hammer-launcher had definitely seen better days, but seemed remarkably intact, all things considered. The weapon was nothing if not sturdy, and had been designed to take impacts like this. Indeed it appeared most of the damage had been constrained to Ren’s recent modifications. He set the weapon down and put a hand on Nora’s shoulder.

“Take it easy, you took a little damage there, it looks like your Aura broke. But I’ll get you fixed up in no time.”

Nora nodded slowly as her eyes focused in on him. He gave her a confident smile, and she looked at him confused, blinked a couple times as her mouth opened in shock, no words coming out.

“What?” Jaune asked, confused.

“Uh, Pyrrha?” came the familiar voice again from behind him. Jaune looked over, and saw himself, emerging out of the haze of dust, unsteady on his feet. He did a double take but, the figure remained the same. But if that was him, he looked back to Nora, slowly getting it, and looked down, seeing two large bronze-clad bulges that definitely had no business emerging from his chest.

“Oh boy,” she said.

* * *

“So at first it was all like whirr,” Ren said, holding his hands in front of him like he was holding something, “and Magi was making so much energy and I was all like I HAVE THE POWER!” He said, moving his arms up and flexing his muscles, “and then Jaune started draining it from me, and that was like 'bummer,' but then he gave it to Pyrrha and then Magi started _really_ shaking like, 'Rar, Rar, Rar!'” Ren said, moving his hands down like the object he was holding had started to shake, “And then there was even _more_ power, and then it was like, 'Oh no, to much power!'” he moved her hands to the side of her face, “And then BOOM!” he said, clapping his hands and moving them apart in an exaggerated motion.

Glynda just looked at the usually placid boy, her confusion not lessened.

“The assignment was to develop a synergistic team attack,” Jaune said, his face even. “I made some modifications to Magnhild so that Pyrrha could spin it using her polarity to generate electricity. This powered-up Nora, who Jaune could then draw power from and distribute it to us. However, we got stuck in a feedback loop, and well, _something_ happened.” He shrugged. “It stopped when the cartridges in Magnhild detonated.”

“It was working really well,” Pyrrha said, smiling. “At least until then.” He said, as his face fell.

“Sorry about the damage to the practice field,” Nora said, hanging her head.

“Stop, stop,” Glynda said, rubbing the brow of her nose. “ So let me get this straight, you were working on this team synergy thing when things went wrong, there was an explosion, and you woke up… swapped?”

“Yeah, that’s basically it,” Pyrrha said, rubbing the back of her head.

“So now, you are,” Glynda asked, looking at Pyrrha.

“Jaune,” Pyrrha said.

“Pyrrha,” Nora said.

“Nora,” Ren said.

“Ren,” Jaune said.

Glynda looked back and forth and sighed. “You're going to need some name tags.”

* * *

**A helpful diagram**  


“You’re pulling my leg,” Ruby said, as she and Pyrrha, now wearing a name tag that said ‘Hi, my name is Jaune,’ sat down across from one another at the library. Beside them sat Blake and Yang, ostensibly working on some homework, though only Blake had a book open.

“Why would I make something like this up?” Pyrrha said. “And why would I be studying with you if I wasn’t Jaune. Pyrrha’s not in this strategy class, I am.”

“Maybe it’s some sort of weird prank?”

“I dunno sis,” Yang said from beside her. “If it’s a prank, what’s the pay-off? I mean, it’s not like we wouldn’t let Pyrrha come to one of our sexy pajama parties if she wanted. Pretending to be Jaune just gets her disinvited.”

“Pajama parties?” Pyrrha asked, face blushing.

“Just ignore her, we don’t,” Blake said, not looking up from her book.

“ _Sexy_ pajama parties,” Yang said with a smirk.

“I don’t know if I would call them parties,” Ruby said, “More like after-hours-sleepy-time-team-meetings.”

“Pillow blows are frequently exchanged, during these meetings, that makes them a party,” Yang said with authority.

“They aren’t sexy either,” Blake said, glancing up from her book.

“The sexy part comes from us being in our un-der-wear,” Yang said, enunciating the syllables of the last word, and leaning forward, exposing more of her decolletage with a wink.

Pyrrha’s face turned from pink to crimson, so intense was her blush.

“Oh jeez, I think she, er he, is telling the truth,” Yang said, sitting back in her seat. “No way, Pyrrha’s that good of an actor.”

Blake shrugged. “So you made Pyrrha blush, big deal. You do it to Weiss all the time.”

“You guys, I swear I’m Jaune! Look, name tag and everything!”

“If you’re Jaune, then tell me something only he would know,” Ruby asked.

Pyrrha thought for a second. “When we first arrived at Beacon, you called me ‘vomit-boy’ because I threw up all over the ship.”

Yang laughed. “Vomit-boy? Really? Oh man, only you Rubes.”

Ruby ignored her sisters barbs giving Pyrrha a curious look, ignoring her sister. “Jaune could have told you that story…”

“Do you really think I would have told _Pyrrha_ about throwing up on arrival? It’s bad enough you know.”

“Don’t worry, vomit-boy, your secret’s safe with me,” Yang said with a smirk. Pyrrha just hung her head and groaned.

Pyrrha groaned, hanging her head. “I can’t help being motion sick.”

“You really are Jaune, aren’t you,” Ruby said, looking the redhead over again. “Sorry, this is just so weird.”

“Tell me about it. We've been wearing that word out."

“So… how are you liking being in Pyrrha’s body? Gotten familiar with it yet!?” Yang said, bouncing her eyebrows suggestively.

“I, I wouldn’t do that to her!” Pyrrha stammered.

“Why not? I’m sure she’s checking out _your_ goods,” Yang said, grinning more.

“Pyrrha’s not in my body. She’s in Nora’s. Ren’s in my body.”

“Oh, I guess I just assumed. Huh, well, too bad for her. It would be a lot of fun to explore your equipment.”

“Gross,” Blake said, not looking up from her book.

“What? Don’t act like you’ve never wondered what it would be like to have one of those.”

“No,” Blake said simply.

“Uh, can’t say that I have either, sis,” Ruby said, with a nervous laugh.

Yang hmped.

“So is this like a forever thing or are you going to be able to switch back?” Blake asked.

“I don’t know. Ms. Goodwitch said not do anything till the headmaster gets back to look at us. But that won’t be for a week. She didn't seem too worried though.”

The look on Yang’s face turned more serious. “A whole week, huh. I know you said you wouldn’t explore it, but like, well you’re going to have to do some stuff in that time.”

Pyrrha looked over at her, confused.

“Like using the bathroom and stuff,” Yang said, blushing a little herself. “Have you guys talked about that yet?”

Pyrrha blushed again. “No, uh that hasn’t come up yet.”

“Well, you should probably discuss it soon. Pyrrha probably wouldn’t appreciate you not, uh, washing her body,” Blake said with a shrug.

“And I don’t imagine you can hold it forever either,” Yang said.

Pyrrha gulped.

* * *

“So I got these,” Pyrrha said, holding up four blindfolds. Team PRNJ had taken their dinner back to their dorm, to avoid any more unpleasant questions. “It’s not perfect, but this way we can preserve at least a little of our privacy when we change or use the bathroom or whatever.”

“But how am I going to aim to pee if I can’t see?” Ren asked.

“Um…” Pyrrha drawled, not expecting the question.

“You can just sit down, Nora,” Jaune said with a sigh.

“Kinda takes all the fun out of it.”

“Nora,” Jaune groaned.

“What!? It does! Peeing is the best part of being a guy!”

“You’ve already done that?” Nora asked.

“Yeah!” He looked around at his incredulous teammates, “What? I had to go! You guys act like it’s really complicated or something. I even got it _mostly_ in the bowl my first time,” he said, looking inordinately proud.

“I’m just going to _not_ think about that,” Jaune said face in his hands.

“Agreed,” Pyrrha said.

“She does bring up a good question,” Nora said. “If we’re blindfolded, how are we going to manage to do all the, you know, bathroom stuff?”

“I didn’t think that aim was required for girls?” Pyrrha asked, giving her a puzzled look.

“Not that,” Nora said, shading slightly. “But it’s going to be hard to shower and dress if you can’t see what you’re doing.”

Pyrrha shrugged. “We’ll muddle through somehow. I don’t really see any other option.”

“How about this. Since we’re an even split, we can do that with just two blindfolds, one for the girl body pair, and one for the boy, and we blindfold the person whose sex doesn’t match their bodies.”

“This is making my head hurt,” Ren said.

“I’m not sure I follow either,” Nora said, frowning.

“No, I get it,” Pyrrha said, putting two of the blindfolds down. “The problem is that we don’t want any pairs of the opposite sex to see each other nude. So we’ll split up, the girl bodies in one group, and the boy bodies in the other. Now in Pyrrha’s and mine group, I’m the only one who needs to be blindfolded. I’m in your body, so it’s not a big deal for you to see me nude, and since you’re in Nora’s body, I don’t think Nora would have a problem with you seeing her nude either, you follow?”

Nora nodded slowly. “Oh I get it, then I can help you with bathing and everything while your blindfolded.”

“Right. That is if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind.” Nora said, shaking her head. “It’s a good idea Ren.”

* * *

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Jaune said, his voice tired.

“You’re going to have to wash sometime, between the explosion and being in Jaune’s armor all day, you’re kind of ripe,” Ren said, dragging a reluctant Jaune behind him, bath supplies in hand. “Besides, were both boys right now, so where else are we supposed to go?”

“The shower in our dorm?” Jaune ventured.

“Where Cardin and his crew can walk in on us? No thanks.”

Jaune had no answer to that and followed behind as Ren entered into the men’s locker room.

“Huh,” Ren said, hand on his hips, looking over the spartan room. “Where’s all the guy stuff you should have in here?”

“Guy stuff?”

“You know, guy stuff, pin-up pictures! Macho posters!” he flexed, “girly mags!”

Jaune made a face. “I think Cardin has a picture in his locker, but…”

“Oh let me see, let me see!”

“But I don’t know his combination,” Jaune finished.

“Oh,” Ren said, looking supremely disappointed.

“It’s a locker room, Nora. Just what do you think we do in here anyway?”

“I dunno, Guy stuff! Chest-thumping, high-fiving, flexing, fencing?”

“Do you do any of that kind of stuff in the girls?”

“No,” Ren said slowly, considering the question. “But we don’t have the right equipment to fence!”

Jaune gave him a puzzled look.

“You know like,” he gestured with his hips. “Fencing.”

Jaune’s look turned flat look.

“Is Jaune the best at it? He uses a sword, though he’s not really good at it. I guess it’s not really the same anyway, they aren’t that long, more like daggers. Oh, _you’re_ good with daggers, are _you_ the best? You probably are,” he held his hands up and through a few jabs, “with your speed and quickness!” He paused, considering. “Or length more important? What are the rules? How do you score?”

“Nora.”

“Yes, Ren?” the normally stoic boy replied, batting his eyes.

“We don’t do that.”

He paused, momentarily deterred, then started again even more excited. “Then we can be the first!”

“No.”

“You’re no fun. I bet Jaune or Pyrrha would fence with me.”

“I kind of doubt that,” he said, sitting down and pulling off Jaune’s gloves and wristguards.

“Maybe you’re right,” Ren said, joining him on the bench. “Oh, What about Yang!? She would! Can we swap with her? Oh! Or Weiss! She already knows how to fence. She can help us make the rules.”

The blond only rolled his eyes, his hands going up to work on the fasteners on Jaune's armor.

Ren followed, sitting down next to him. His tunic came off easily, he only needed to undo a few snaps, and he carefully folded it, setting it down beside him on the bench. His weapon harness came next, followed by his shoes and pants, leaving him in just his boxers and a thin undershirt. Beside him, Jaune was still struggling with the straps on his second shoulder piece.

Wordlessly, Ren shifted behind him, his nimble fingers going to work at the fasteners. Jaune moved his fingers aside to let him work, and between the two of them, they made short work of his armor.

“No wonder he’s so clumsy,” Ren said, setting the breastplate down with a clunk. “This is heavy!”

Jaune nodded, stretching with a groan and rolling his now free shoulders, then pulled his hoodie off in one clean motion, revealing his bare skin beneath. Ren’s breath caught at the sight. The tall blond was not rippled with muscle but had a lean, defined form, that concealed little of his strength. Jaune looked up at the noise, curious.

Ren coughed and looked away. [COLOR=#a64d79“Sore? I bet you are, under that weight all day.”

Jaune nodded, tensing as Ren’s hands brushed his skin, lightly tracing the outline of his back and neck.

“Relax, it’s still me,” Ren said quietly, hands starting to work his muscles. Jaune nodded slowly, the tension in his muscles relaxing somewhat, though his posture still portrayed a nervous edge, slowly though he began to relax as Ren’s hands worked and pinched.

“Jaune’s been putting on a lot of muscle, huh,” Ren said after a while. “I guess all that armor is good for something.”

Jaune made an affirmative hum, head hanging a little lower as Ren’s hands continued to work their way down his back. Ren worked in silence for a while, the tension slowly building between them, until his hands reached his waist, lingering there for a moment until Jaune shifted awkwardly.

“That feel better?” Ren asked, yanking his hands away and clapping him on the back.

Jaune nodded, getting up with another stretch, then dug around in his clothes and retrieved a blindfold, and held it out to Ren, who made a face.

“Do we really need that? I mean, even with my eyes closed, I can still feel it,” he hesitated. “Besides, I’ve kind of already seen all that there is to see of you down there too.”

“It’s not for my privacy, it’s for Jaune’s,” he said, gesturing at himself, eyes darting to the side.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Ren said, taking the blindfold and putting it on.

* * *

“Here, let me get that for you,” Nora said, moving behind to undo the binding that the blindfolded Pyrrha had been struggling with.

“Thanks,” Pyrrha said twisting her back, now free back, causing her now free breasts to sway with the motion, and her to blush.

“You’re welcome,” Nora said with a small grin. She freed her own, somewhat larger breasts, and stepping out of her panties, supporting Pyrrha as she did the same. Then took the redhead by the hips and guided her into one of the stalls, of the dorm’s women's bath, and moved into its neighbor herself. She turned on the hot water, letting it soak her for a while, as she closed her eyes and let out a peaceful sigh.

Her reverie was interrupted by a wail and a thud. Nora opened her eyes and peeked over the partition to see Pyrrha, lying on a heap on the ground, water pouring down on her.

“You okay?” she asked, her face a mix of concern and amusement.

Pyrrha nodded, struggling to her feet, shivering slightly. “Just turned on the wrong water,” she said, fumbling blindly for the faucets.

“Let me get that for you,” Nora said, ducking out of her stall and into Pyrrha’s, brushing past the redhead, and wincing slightly as the cold water hit her.

Pyrrha stood there under the water, shivering, the close confines of the stall not giving her much room to move, as Nora reached over, adjusted the water to a more comfortable temperature.

“Thanks,” Pyrrha said, fumbled for the soap, which Nora reached over and handed it to her. She starting to wash, moving with deliberate slowness, the soap barely grazing her skin.

“You’ll never get clean me like that, Jaune,” Nora said. “You can touch me, I won’t break.”

Pyrrha turned back to her, face bashful. “I just don’t want to, you know, take advantage of you.”

Nora blushed. “I know, but there isn’t any way for you to wash without touching my body, so just go ahead and do it.”

Pyrrha nodded and hesitantly resumed washing at a more normal pace.

“You got it from here then?” Nora asked quietly, arms still held at the taller girls waist, the small shower forcing them close to one another.

“I should be good,” Pyrrha said, awkwardly. Nora nodded, turning away, the motion causing her breasts to swing and bumped against Pyrrha’s back, causing the blindfolded woman to startle.

“Sorry!” Nora cried out catching her and steadying her. “I’m not quite used to how, uh, top heavy, Nora is.”

“It’s okay,” Pyrrha said with a smile. “Frankly I don’t know how either of you deal with these,” she said, gesturing downward. “My back is killing me.”

“Proper posture helps. Here, let me show you,” Nora said, moving behind. “You need to keep your back straight, And keep your shoulders up. Stand like that,” she said, pulling Pyrrha into the proper position. “Stand like that, not slouched over like you normally do.”

Pyrrha tried to hold the pose as she finished washing, but her shoulders seemed to instinctively want to slump. “I feel like this just makes them stand out more.”

“Well, yes,” Nora said, looking down. “I’m sorry they are so large, Jaune. I already wear a binding to keep them down.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that! I was just commenting. I know you don’t like people staring at you, and I just thought this might make it worse.”

“Not everyone stares,” she said with a sad smile. “I thought you liked girls with more modest chests,” she paused speaking under her breath, “like Weiss.”

“I uh…” Pyrrha stammered, as the door to the dorm bath opened.

“Yeah, _Pyrrha_ ,” Yang said, stepping into the bathroom. “What kind of chests do you like?”

“She binds her breasts, dim-witt, what do you think she thinks?” Weiss said, following after. “Not everyone is proud to have mountains sitting on their chest.”

“Oh, I dunno, I have reason to believe she might have recently gotten a new _perspective_ on things,” Yang said with a wink towards Nora.

“So what do you like?” Nora asked softly.

Pyrrha swallowed thickly. “I, I think everyone is different, and so it’s wrong to think there is just one size that is perfect. Weiss’s, um, chest, looks good on her, but I think yours look _really_ good on you too.”

“Thanks,” Nora said softly.

“Aww, but what about mine?” Yang said, peeling off her top and walking into the stall next to Nora.

“Leave her alone, you got your answer,” Weiss said, opening the stall on Pyrrha’s left. “What’s with the blindfold?”

“It’s, it’s for, uh, training!” Nora scrambled. “She’s working on learning how to sense things with her semblance.”

“That’s cool,” Weiss said, turning on the water. “I’ve always admired that about you, to be as good as you are, but still practice every day.”

“Well, you know me, always training,” Pyrrha said, laughing weakly.

* * *

Cutting off his sight completely changed Ren’s attitude, the boisterousness gone, replaced with a meek demeanor, shivering as Jaune helped him remove the last of his clothing and took his hand, leading him into the shower, each foot placed gingerly as he walked onto the tile floor. Jaune took another moment to position him, then stepped away, leaving him alone in the darkness, looking left and right, startling when Jaune turned the hot water on.

Beside him, Jaune washed in a manner of fact fashion, though every now and then his eyes darted over to observe Ren’s frame. But also paying a great deal of attention to his own body, hands ever so slightly lingering as they traced the lines of his muscles, or explored the territory below his waist. His gaze wasn’t _quite_ salacious, but it certainly was deliberate, and a reaction confirming his interest happened below his waist.

“Umm… Ren? I dropped the soap…” Ren asked, face flush.

Jaune rolled his eyes, his cock bobbing ever so slightly at the words, then bent over and retrieved the item, handing it back.

“Thanks,” Ren said quietly. “Can you help me with my hair?”

Jaune nodded, hands going up to remove the band that kept his long ponytail in place, Ren shaking it out with a toss of his head.

“I’ve always liked your long hair,” Ren said, shivering as Jaune silently lathered up some shampoo and started to wash Ren’s black locks. Jaune staying carefully behind him, avoiding any collisions. “It really looks beautiful when you let it down. Very feminine. Er, not that you look like a girl, well you do kind of, but you’re still very masculine, very handsome. Even more so with your hair down. It goes really well with your features and clothes. Some people just look good with long hair.”

“Thanks Nora,” Jaune said, a small smile on his face. “I like the way your hair looks to, even though it’s short.”

* * *

“Can I borrow your conditioner?” Pyrrha said, looking over at Nora, “mines out.”

“Umm… conditioner?” Nora asked, confused.

“You know, for _your_ hair.”

“Oh, umm… I’m using a two-in-one.”

“Wait, _all_ the time? Not just now?”

“Yes?” Nora offered weakly.

“Here, use mine,” Weiss said, reaching over and tapping the bottle against Pyrrha.

“What’s the difference?” Nora asked.

“Shampoo is for washing your scalp, and for cleaning the dirt and oils out of your hair. But doing that also dries your hair out, which can weaken it. So conditioner is there to add some oils back in, hydrating it again and strengthening it. So the two are kind of at cross purposes, and don’t really work well together,” Pyrrha explained.

“Also the chemicals in shampoo have a negative charge to remove the built-up oils, while conditioner has a positive charge so it can reprotonate it. It’s pretty much like trying to put different magnets together.” Weiss added.

“You really know a lot about this, huh _Pyrrha_ ,” Yang said.

Pyrrha squirmed.

“It’s normal for girls, isn’t it?” Weiss said.

“I didn’t know that much,” Nora huffed. “I thought Aura protected it.”

“It does some,” Yang said. “But conditioner still helps.”

“It’s not a big deal for short hair like yours. Guys even use a three-in-one, shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash, which I think is just gross,” Weiss said.

“Not all guys use that kind of stuff,” Pyrrha protested.

“Right, well, I’m sure Ren doesn’t. But I bet Jaune does, that is, if he uses any product at all. Or maybe a four-in-one, for the fleas.”

“I dunno Weiss,” Yang said, a devious grin on her face, “he might surprise you.”

Weiss just humphed.

“Thanks for letting me borrow this, Weiss,” Pyrrha said, tapping the bottle back on the side for her to grab, a scowl on her face.

“Oh, anytime, Pyrrha,” Weiss said, taking the bottle, oblivious.

“You ready to go?” Pyrrha said, turning away abruptly. She fumbled for the faucet managing to turn them off on her own this time.

“I’m done,” Nora said, stepping out of her stall and handing her a towel.

“Oh hey, did you two maybe want to come over to our room after this?” Weiss asked, leaning over her stall. “Ruby’s making us have a team meeting tonight, but it’s mainly just a chance to chat about girl stuff.”

“Told you!” Yang barked, beaming. Weiss shot her a puzzled glance.

Pyrrha shook her head, scowl still evident. “No thanks, we need to have some discussions of our own.”

* * *

“Does she always talk about me like that?” Pyrrha said, plopping down on Jaune’s bed.

“Not… all the time,” Nora said diplomatically, sitting down on Pyrrha’s bed.

“But a lot, huh.”

“I’m sorry.”

Pyrrha sighed. “It’s not your fault,” she said, sitting up testing her still damp hair. “You normally brush it out and let it air, right?”

Nora nodded, digging into Pyrrha’s locker, and retrieving a brush. “Let me do that for you,” she said softly, pushing Pyrrha back on the bed, and climbing up with her.

“Are we interrupting something?” Ren said, a mischievous smirk on his face as he and Jaune entered the room.

“N-no!” Nora sputtered, scrambling behind Pyrrha and fumbling with the brush.

“Aww, too bad,” Ren teased, flopping down on Nora’s bed.

“Feeling better after the shower?” Pyrrha asked, trying to conceal her blush.

“Much!” Ren said, flopping down onto Nora’s bed. “Your locker rooms are boring though. I can’t believe you don’t even fence?”

“Don’t ask,” Jaune interrupted before Pyrrha could inquire, sitting down on Ren’s bed. “How was yours?”

“Eventful,” Nora responded, starting to brush Pyrrha’s hair, “and informative. It seems Jaune here is quite the fount of knowledge when it comes to hair-care.”

“I have a lot of sisters,” Pyrrha said defensively.

Team PRNJ lounged about for a bit, getting ready for bed as Nora brushed Pyrrha’s hair.

“Hey before we go to sleep, you mind if we have a team meeting?” Pyrrha asked.

“Oh, like Yang’s team does?” Ren said and grabbing a pillow.

“Umm… maybe not exactly like they do,” Pyrrha said, “but yeah. I think we’ve got a lot of stuff to talk about.”

“Great!” Ren said, hopping up and moving over to push Ren’s bed up alongside Pyrrha’s, Jaune still atop it. The blond sighed, and moved aside as Ren climbed up with him.

“So… how do we do this?” Nora asked, putting the brush down and moved over, leaving team PRNJ arranged in a rough circle on the combined beds.

Pyrrha smiled at their antics. “I dunno, I guess we should just talk about like… well this,” she gestured around. “How we’re dealing with it, how we’re feeling, that kind of stuff.”

The rest of the team nodded, but no one appeared eager to break the ice.

“Why don’t you start then, Jaune,” Nora said after a couple uncomfortable moments.

“Uhh… sure,” Pyrrha said, fidgeting for a moment before taking a deep breath. “So this has been weird, obviously. _Really weird_. But I feel like I’ve learned a lot today. Little stuff, like, I didn’t realize you wore such tall heels, Pyrrha, or what the girl's bathroom looks like. But also, bigger stuff, like how it feels to be in your body. It’s just… I dunno, even something as simple as my height feels wrong. Like, I’m used to seeing the world from up here,” she held her hand a fair distance above her head, “and now I’m seeing it from here,” she moved her hand back to eye level. “I mean, I know that sounds stupid, but it feels so different.”

Jaune shook his head. “It’s not stupid, I know what you mean.” The other nodded as well.

“I wish I was in Jaune’s body,” Ren said. “Imagine being up that high! I would be Lord of the Clouds! Master of all I survey!”

“First to know when it rains!” Nora added with a laugh.

“Very funny,” Pyrrha said, though she couldn’t keep a smile off her face. “And then there are all the, uh, other changes. I feel like I’m having to learn to walk all over again, what with the height, Pyrrha’s heels, and um, you know,” she glanced down.

“Tell me about it,” Ren said, “All day long I kept feeling like I was about to fall backward because I didn’t have the regular weight hanging off my front! I mean, I had _some_ weight hanging out front, but it’s lower down and not as heav—”

“TMI Nora,” Jaune said interrupting her.

“I thought we were going to talk about this stuff,” Ren huffed.

“You don’t need to talk about it so much though.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Pyrrha said, holding up her hands between them. “Let’s just try and be sensitive, this isn’t easy for any of us.”

“Sorry,” Ren said earnestly, turning to Jaune. “You know I get kind of over-enthusiastic, especially when I’m nervous. It’s just… I know it seems like I’m fixated on it, but like, how can I not be? One second I’m me, and the next, I’m Ren, and I’ve got all this business going on down there,” he gestured. “Like, I always knew guys had that stuff obviously, and I’d seen it before, but knowing and having are _not_ the same. I can’t just ignore those parts hanging off me, and even if I could, it’s sure wants to get my attention at the strangest times and like…” he threw up his hands. “I dunno, it’s just so _weird_ having it hang off down there. I'm... I'm not sure how to deal with it.”

The group was silent for a minute, and Nora reached over and pulled Ren in for a hug.

“It is weird, Nora,” Pyrrha said, patting her leg. “I mean, it’s not quite the same for me, but kinda the same because, you know,” she glanced down again. Ren nodded, sniffing, and held out her hand for Pyrrha.

Pyrrha smiled, grabbing Jaune’s hand and pulling him in with him to a big group hug. They separated after a minute, Ren leaning down to rest his head in Jaune's lap.

Jaune squirmed uncomfortably, looking to Jaune and Pyrrha for help. When they shrugged, he hesitantly placed his hand on Ren’s shoulder. “We'll get through it together, I promise,” he said, getting a contented murmur out of Ren.

“Since we’re all getting stuff our chests,” Nora said, “I should say I felt really embarrassed back there in the shower. This is tough. I really appreciate you being so good about, you know, everything, Jaune.”

“Uh, it’s not a problem I mean… you know.” Pyrrha squirmed. “It just wouldn’t be right.” She sighed. “I feel like we have a lot of those sorts of moments in front of us,” Pyrrha said.

“How about you Ren,” Nora said, looking at the quiet blond. “You haven't said much.”

Jaune shrugged. “I don’t know, I feel like this has affected me the least. I mean, I’m still in a guys body, and aside from the difference in stature, things are pretty much the same. If anything, I’m kind of appreciating the differences.”

“So… combat training tomorrow,” Nora said, after a bit. “That’s going to be a thing.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. That's going to be a disaster,” Ren said.

“Let’s leave tomorrow's problems for tomorrow. Nothing more we can do about them tonight.” Jaune said.

“Good meeting then,” Pyrrha said, “we should probably move the beds back and get some sleep.”

“I’m good here,” Ren said, taking the pillow back out of Jaune’s hands and moving up to lay down next to Nora.

“It has been a long day,” Nora said, glancing over at Nora with an ‘I don’t mind if you don’t mind,’ shrug, “and well, after everything, it might feel better if…” she let her words fall off, not finishing the sentence.

Pyrrha swallowed, and gave her a nod, handing Nora a pillow. Nora fluffed it and laid down, next to Ren who immediately curled into her. Pyrrha followed her, laying down even more nervously, flinching as Nora tentatively placed a hand on her waist.

Looking at the three of them, Jaune sighed, getting up to hit the light, before he to crawled into bed, taking the position on Pyrrha’s right. In the dim light, it was just barely possible to see the blush on the blonds face.


	2. Combat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The adventures of team PRNJ continue.

“I don’t think it’s going to work Jaune,” Nora said, giving Pyrrha’s breastplate a futile tug.

The best word for Pyrrha’s current appearance would probably be ‘overburdened.’ She had Jaune’s white armor strapped atop her brown corset, complete with shoulder pads and the orange wristguards on her arms

Pyrrha sat on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the straps on Jaune’s armor, moving the white breastplate up and down on her chest. The back piece lay fine on her back, and they had already given up and removed the side plates, but no matter how she maneuvered it, Pyrrha’s bust, even when bound, kept the heart-shaped piece of armor from sitting flat.

“I guess you’re right,” Pyrrha said, looking down. At Nora’s prompting, she lifted her arms and let her remove the armored plates. “Ren, you want to use this?”

“I’m good. No offense, but that stuff will just slow me down,” Jaune said, adjusting the fit of the weapon harness on his arms. Besides the hoodie, only the jeans and boots of Jaune’s typical outfit remained. The belt-scabbard, bracers, gloves, and remaining accoutrement now worn by Pyrrha. He looked rather casual without these, and the armor that typically covered the Pumpkin Pete’s rabbit logo on the hoodie. He flexed his wrists, testing the draw and holstering mechanism for Ren’s pistols. Satisfied with that, he rolled the sleeves down over the harness, concealing the sickle-pistols beneath.

“So what are you going to do?” Ren asked, throwing a concerned look Pyrrha’s way.

Ren’s look was mostly unchanged, except he was now sporting Nora’s pink gloves, which went surprisingly well with his green tunic. His long hair was left to run free, cascading down his back, instead of being constrained in its usual ponytail.

“I don’t know,” Pyrrha said with a shrug. “I’ll make do somehow I guess. The corset will at least give me some protection.”

“Sorry,” Nora said looking down. “Nothing else in my wardrobe is really suited for combat, I know this must be awkward for you.”

“It’s okay, I’m just worried about getting your body hurt.”

“I appreciate your concern,” Nora said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “but I’m tough, I can take it.”

“Besides, you’ve still got more aura than the rest of us combined,” Ren scoffed. “You can just tank it.”

“Just tanking hits really isn’t an optimal fighting style, Nora,” Jaune said.

“Maybe not, but I don’t see why he should change it up now.”

“Oh, ha, ha, very funny,” Pyrrha said, struggling with her boots. “These are _not_ going to help. I don’t know how you walk in these things, much less fight.”

“Oh that I can help with,” Nora said, going over to Pyrrha’s closet. After a couple minutes of searching, she pulled out a pair of sandals she handed over. “Here. I know they are open-toed, but they are pretty sturdy.”

“Oh, I always liked those, and they go good with the rest of your outfit,” Ren said.

Pyrrha looked at him in confusion.

“What!? Appearances are important for a huntress. Or do you think Pyrrha’s normally wears heels because of how practical they are?”

Pyrrha blushed. “I guess I never thought about it…”

“It’s a little bit of both. They do give me some extra height and keep me on the balls of my toes, but she’s right that it’s mostly a marketing thing. Inspiring confidence and all that,” Nora said.

Pyrrha looked down at the mish-mash of armor she was wearing. “Maybe I should just dump all this stuff then? I don’t want to make you look bad.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s not me but…” she gave the redhead’s appearance a critical eye. “I kind of like it. It’s like a fusion of our two styles. Like we merged or something.”

“Well, you kind of did,” Jaune said.

“I think you look good. Tough!” Ren said, flexing a muscle. “Red and White is a good color combination!”

“Thanks,” Pyrrha said, glancing away in embarrassment. “Uh, I always thought Ren’s pink and green looked good too. I never thought about it, but I guess you two planned that out?”

“Yep! I’ve been trying to get him to wear more, but he’s stubborn,” Ren said proudly.

“The pink works as an accent, but I don’t want to overdo it,” Jaune explained.

“Why don’t you wear any green, though?” Pyrrha asked, looking over at Ren.

“Because duh, greens not a girl color,” Ren said, rolling his eyes.

“But pink is a boy color?” Pyrrha asked, confused.

“Just… don’t ask,” Jaune said, putting a hand on his shoulder, cutting off any explanation from Ren. “You ready?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Pyrrha said, tightening the straps on the sandals. She looked up at Jaune. “Um, sorry about the uh, bunny.”

Jaune looked down and shrugged. “It’s okay. Though, no offense, but I don’t think revealing it is going to do people’s perception of your style any favors.”

“I think it’s cute,” Nora said. “If not exactly what I imagine a hunter wearing.”

Pyrrha slumped.

“Well, you’ve just got to get them to change their mind!” Ren said, slapping Jaune on the back. “Get them to fear the bunny!”

“Speaking of styles, fighting styles that is. Are you sure you want to stick with this plan?” Nora asked, changing the subject. “I’m not as strong as you. I think it will be tough for you to wield your sword and shield like you normally do.”

Pyrrha shook her head. “I’d be even worse of with anything else. I wouldn’t even have a clue how to fight with your spear.”

“At least you still have a weapon,” Ren said bitterly, glancing over to where Nora’s grenade-hammer laid disassembled on the table.

“Glynda knows your weapon’s broken, I am sure she won’t call on you. Or any of us really, given what happened,” Nora said.

“I wouldn’t count on it.” Jaune warned.

———

“As some of you may be aware, a few of your fellow classmates have had a small accident,” Glynda said, addressing the class. “While this presents them some additional difficulties, it is also an excellent training opportunity to them and an important reminder to all of us that combat situations can and will develop in strange and unpredictable ways, and so you must be ready to handle such situations at any time. In accordance, we will divert from the syllabus and dedicate today’s session to one of the most common such situations, unarmed combat.”

There was an excited murmur from the assembled students, Yang smashing her fist into a palm while Ruby groaned.

“Now, before we that we get into any theory of this, I think we would benefit from some practical demonstrations. Any volunteers for the first bout?”

Yang’s hand shot up like a rocket.

“Miss Xiao Long, I had a feeling you would be interested. Very well, come on down. I shall match you with…” she looked the class over. “Miss Nikos, I believe.”

There was a low rumbled from the students as Yang and Nora approached the sparring arena.

“Umm… Miss Goodwitch, that’s not—” Weiss began, standing up.

“I appreciate your concern, but I assure you this correct match.”

Weiss sat down, shooting her classmates a confused look. Blake shrugged, and Ruby leaned over and whispered to her, “I’ll tell you later.”

“This should be good,” Ren said.

“Think she stands a chance?” Pyrrha asked.

“Probably not. Pyrrha’s good. _Really good_ ,” Jaune replied. “But hand-to-hand is Yang’s element, so normally I’d give her the slight edge. As things are though…” he shrugged.

“I think she can do it,” Ren said confidently. “Have you seen Yang fight? She relies on blasting around with her gauntlets a lot. Missing that is going to throw her off. Plus,” he grinned. “Pyrrah has my strength now. She might catch Yang buy surprise.”

“There’s a chance. But she also has your height now, and that loss of reach is going to hurt her. Maybe if we had had more of a chance to practice and get used to these bodies…”

Ren frowned, but any further conversation was cut off by Glynda.

“Ladies, if you are ready? As we discussed, strictly unarmed, no weapons or semblances.”

Both girls nodded, their respective weapons already put aside and assumed a fighting stance.

“Begin!”

Yang lunged out immediately, hands trailing behind her as she rushed headlong towards Nora, who stood calmly waiting for her approach. At the last moment, Yang’s hands windmilled in front of her as she launched into a front handspring, soaring high into the air before she came down in a powerful flying axe-kick.

Nora stood fast and calmly received the kick, her legs spread and her hands crossed overhead in a block. Even so, the force of the impact cracked the ground beneath her feet, but Nora looked unaffected, pushing back with her hands and throwing Yang back as the energy of her attack was spent. Yang used the momentum to gracefully transition into a backflip, but as she landed, she was immediately put on the defensive as Nora followed up, red sash trailing behind as she rushed down Yang, throwing a sharp kick. The blow was just short, catching air and allowing Yang a moment to regain her balance. This gave her a chance to get her hands down in time to block the series of short, basic punches Nora followed up with, none-the-less forcing the taller girl to give ground.

Then just as suddenly as Nora’s attack began, she called it off, the momentum of her attack spent. The shorter girl hopped back and resumed a neutral stance as the girls evaluated each other with newfound respect.

Yang rubbed her arms tenderly. “I guess that move goes off a lot slower without Ember to boost it.”

Nora nodded, silent, her eyes wary. Yang resumed her stance bouncing on the soles of her feet looking Nora up and down before she lunged in again, this time leading with a single strike. Nora met the blow head-on, her own fist colliding with Yang’s. The force of the colliding fists enough to shatter bones in a normal hand, but the aura augmented fists just produced an echoing clack. Nora’s greater strength pushed Yang back, and Nora followed up again, but Yang was wary this time, dancing away from the rushing woman, keeping her distance.

“Got a lot of strength in that one!” Yang said cheerily, shaking her fist out, as she began to circle again, considering an approach. Nora observed her carefully until she crossed some invisible threshold and then launched her own attacked. She threw a short flurry of strikes that briefly caught Yang off guard with their suddenness, but then the blonde took a quick step back, re-establishing her distance for a beat before retaliating, using her superior reach to put Nora back on the defensive.

“Looks close,” Pyrrha said.

Jaune shook his head. “No, it’s not. Look at how Pyrrah is fighting, it’s too conservative, just basic jabs and kicks. She hasn’t left the ground once or gone for anything big. She’s not fighting to win, she’s fighting not to lose.”

“She’s just waiting for her opening, and then boom!” Ren countered.

Team PRNJ did, the women trading blows furiously, Nora now blocking more often than not, but still throwing the odd punch to keep Yang on guard. After a few more exchanges, the moment Ren predicted came. Yang delivered a particularly strong blow into Nora’s guard, throwing the woman back a step. A grin flashed across Yang’s face and she followed up, stepping in to deliver a furious spinning backhand. But at the moment her back was turned, Nora stepped ducked down, stepping aside, and landed a thunderous strike to Yang’s stomach.

The air went out of Yang with a gasp, but the blonde was not out of it yet. Her grin turned fierce, and her long arms latched onto Nora’s shoulders, turning her strike into a grab. Using the momentum of Nora’s blow and her own across the arena.

Nora tried to correct in mid-air, a movement usually simple for her, but in this new body, she failed. She thudded into the ground, tumbling into one of the walls with a loud thud, and came to rest in an undignified heap in the corner. Up above, the gauge for her aura decreased, dropping below Yang’s and into the yellow zone, causing Glynda to step up and end the match.

“Winner, Yang.”

Yang graciously offered a hand to the downed woman, and Nora took it, making their way back to the stands.

“Well, you were right,” Pyrrha said, looking at Ren.

“Yes, but for the wrong reasons.” Jaune said, shaking his head. “I was wrong about Yang. She’s good, but in any other situation, Pyrrha would have dominated her. Her style is flashy and effective, but it has too many holes. A conservative counter-strike style like Pyrrha’s is the worst matchup for her.”

“Well I thought you did great,” Ren said, beaming at a returning Nora. “Yang would have kicked my ass for sure.”

“Thanks,” Nora said, sitting down gingerly. “But I think you could do okay. You’re stronger than her, so if you are willing to take some hits to trade blows, you’d come out ahead.”

“Bah, I don’t want to fight like Jaune, I wanna do like you, suck ’em in and then BOOM!” Ren exclaimed.

“Hey!” Pyrrha objected.

“She’s kidding,” Nora said, putting a hand on her arm. “But outlasting your opponent is a sound strategy, even if I wasn’t able to do it here” she paused. “What I’d _really_ like to see is Ren fight her.”

“Ooooh! That would be a good fight! Strength versus Speed! Grace versus Beauty! Kung-fu versus Brawling! THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN!”

“Wait, who’s grace and who’s beauty in this scenario?” Pyrrha asked.

“I don’t think I’m quite as fast right now,” Jaune said, ignoring the question, “but I admit, I’m kind of eager to give this a try. It’s different being this tall and this strong.”

“Well looks like you’ll get your chance,” Nora said, pointing to the screen where Glynda had called up the next matchup. Lie Ren vs. Weiss Schnee.

“Oooh, this should be good. Go Ren! MAKE THEM FEAR THE BUNNY!”

With a long-suffering sigh, Jaune stood up and worked his way down to where a sour-faced Weiss waited.

“I don’t know what you’re team’s game is here, Jaune, but no funny business. I’m going to make this quick.”

“I’m not—,” Jaune began, but Glynda cut him off.

“Are you ready?”

Both students nodded.

“Begin.”

Like Nora, Jaune took up a defensive stance, allowing Weiss to take the initiative. The petite girl wasted no time in seizing it, launching a flurry of kicks at Jaune, who simply stood his ground. His hands moved in broad arcs, sweeping blows out of the way, body counter stepping him out of the axis of her attack. Weiss smoothly pivoted with the attacks, following up with one after another, their spar turning into some kind of strange ballet until finally, Weiss maneuvered Jaune into a corner. Grinning as the blond boy had nowhere left to run, Weiss launched a straightforward thrust, only for Jaune to again sweep the kick aside, taking a partial hit to his side, but retaliating with a palm thrust of his own to her midsection.

The blow was delivered calmly, without especially vigor, but still, Jaune’s greater weight combined with his longer reach transformed the thrust into kind of an extended push, throwing Weiss back, the white-haired woman barely managing to stay on her feet as her Aura gauge dropped.

Frustrated, Weiss pulled back, growling, “I don’t know what your game is here, Jaune, but fight me for real.”

“Like I said, I’m not—”

“I don’t want to hear your nonsense, just fight!”

“Very well,” Jaune said, taking the offensive.

Unlike his deflections, which were delivered with grace and style, Jaune’s attack was, for lack of a better word, clumsy. As if his hands knew where to go, but he lacked the coordination to pull it off. This was of little comfort to Weiss, as Jaune’s much greater weight and height were decisive advantages, especially when used aggressively. She tried to dodge out of his reach, and regain the initiative, but the boy was able to predict her every move, interposing himself and forcing her back.

Soon it was all Weiss could do to stay out of Jaune’s grasp, for a grab surely would have meant instant defeat. She threw a few stuttering kicks and punches to slow down Jaune’s attack. A number of these landed, but the blows had little strength behind them and were inconsequential compared to the thunderous palm strikes Jaune would deliver in return.

“Go Ren! MAKE HER FEAR THE BUNNY!”

Weiss heard Ren’s voice from the stands but struggled to put things together, overwhelmed as she was by Jaune’s onslaught. Soon, the tables were turned, and it was Weiss pinned in the corner of the arena. Weiss tried to dodge left, then right, out of the corner, but Jaune again boxed her in, delivering another palm strike that sent her bouncing off the corner walls, and down to her knees, utterly defeated.

“Winner, Ren!” Glynda called out, ending the fight. A hushed murmur went out from the students. Seeing Jaune crush Weiss was not what they expected, regardless of what he was calling himself.

Weiss also glared up at Jaune, knocking the proffered hand aside, and struggling up to her feet. “What was that!”

Jaune shrugged. “Some stuff happened, and I’m not Jaune now, I’m Ren. That is, I’m in his body.”

“You’re what!?” Weiss shrieked.

“I’m Ren,” Jaune repeated with a shrug. “It’s complicated.”

Weiss boggled and looked for more explanation, but Jaune was already heading back up to the stands. She scowled and followed after, getting ready to receive the merciless teasing from her team. That is to say, from Yang.

“Good job,” Pyrrha said.

“She’s pissed,” Ren said, looking over at where Weiss was still staring daggers at team PRNJ.

Jaune shrugged, sitting down with his team.

“Should you have gone so easy on her?” Nora asked.

“I didn’t go easy on her. Turns out it’s not so easy using my fighting style like this. The muscles aren’t right.”

“Sorry,” Pyrrha said.

Jaune shook his head. “No, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. There is… potential here. I just need to figure it out.”

“Well, I am not looking forward to facing her again once we switch back.”

“Why?” Jaune asked, looking over at her.

“Well… she’s probably going to be pissed?”

“So what?” Jaune asked, continuing before Pyrrha could reply. “Personal issues between you two aside, why would you be afraid of sparring with her?”

“Umm, because she’s a lot better than me?”

“She’s not,” Nora said quietly.

“What?”

“She said she’s not. I agree,” Jaune repeated, taking over for Nora. “Jaune, you saw how I beat her down there. I didn’t do that using my fighting style. I did it using _yours_. Or at least, how yours could be.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Weiss is good at many things,” Nora said. “She has speed, flexibility, and a huge amount of utility with her glyphs. But power and stamina are not her strong suit. So, sure, maybe she can land three blows for every one of yours. That doesn’t matter so long as you have the stamina to trade her _five_ for one, which you do. Frankly speaking, unarmed, I’m not sure she can even hurt you. In a constrained arena like this one, where she can’t get out of range or dodge indefinitely? You have the advantage.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“What’s not to be sure about? Ren just kicked her ass in your body. If he can do it, you can too,” Ren said.

Pyrrha chewed on this as the team watched another set of students fight. The bout drew out a while, the two obviously not terribly proficient, until finally, one landed enough blows to drop the other into yellow.

“Let’s have Miss Valkyrie and Miss Belladonna next.”

This fight did not go well for Ren. While he put up a good defensive showing, Blake was all over him. Making herself a difficult, evasive target that eventually wore down his Aura and brought him to a knee. A dejected Ren returned afterward, cheery nature temporarily suppressed.

Team PRNJ watched the next few bouts in silence as various other students clashed until Glynda paused things again to address the class.

“Has anyone noticed a common thread between these matches so far? Been reading ahead in the material? The issue is discussed in chapter seven of Smith’s The Art and Science of Hunting.”

There were some general whispers among the students, discussing the question until Blake raised her hand.

“Yes, Miss Belladonna?”

“They took longer.”

“Very good,” Glynda said, smiling slightly. “That is correct. _Why_ did they took longer?”

Blake shrugged. “It’s harder to deal damage without a weapon.”

“Correct again.” Glynda turned to address the class. “It is just as Miss Belladonna says. I know it sounds obvious, but consider. Without aura, fights are often decided in less than a minutes, sometimes mere seconds. With aura, they can stretch out for much longer. So in conflicts between aura augmented fighters, or between hunters and similarly durable creatures like the Grim, some method to pierce aura protections and deal significant damage in a short period is necessary. Without them, you can expect fights to take _much_ longer as it is challenging to deal sufficient damage to put one’s opponent down for the count. This applies even to strength enhanced hunters, like Miss Valkyrie or Miss Xiao Long, as we saw. Smith estimates a fivefold difference, although I believe this may be too conservative.

“When disarmed, this loss in power is a factor you need to consider, especially in situations where time is of the essence, or where efficiency of kills matters. The most common such scenario we train for is a Grim breakout. As we have discussed previously, a mean time to kill of less than a minute is required when dealing with lesser Grim elements in a breach. Even if you are still able to defeat your opponent without a weapon, if it takes you two or three times longer to do it, you may still be overrun and defeated.”

Glynda paused as the class digested this. “Now, Smith lists seven different methods to mitigate this. Would anyone other than Ms. Belladonna care to hazard a guess?”

Ruby raised her hand.

“Yes, Miss Rose?”

“Get our weapons back?”

There was some general laughter, but Glynda was, as always, all business. She slapped the table with her crop. “This is not a laughing manner, and Miss Rose is entirely correct. If at all possible, the first response should be to undo the disadvantageous situation you are in in the first place. Try and bypass your opponent and retrieve your weapon or an alternate, or, if in a case where you are fighting a humanoid opponent, seek to disarm them and keep them disarmed. An armed combater is tremendously more dangerous than a disarmed one.

She paused, surveying the room again. “What other techniques could we use? Mr. Arc?”

Pyrrha blushed and froze, not expecting to be called upon. “Uh… fight harder?”

There were again some sporadic giggles, which Glynda silenced with a glare. “Could you please elaborate, Mr. Arc?”

“Well, um, use more Aura and stuff? I know we are supposed to conserve but if we get disarmed…” she shrugged.

Glynda hmmed, then nodded. “Not on Smiths list, but an interesting and valid perspective none the less. Managing your rate of aura expenditure is of utmost importance in a battle. But in situations where you are disarmed and need to increase your lethality, you may have no choice but to expend at a great rate to keep up. Using up your Aura may result in your running out before the battle is concluded. But so long as the situation persists, there may be a chance for things to turn around. In a breakout and many other scenarios, letting your mean time to kill slip above the maximum could mean an entire settlement get overrun.” She paused, face serious. “In such situations, we must be prepared to fight to the last drop if necessary to prevent this.

The class was quiet after that sobering thought.

“Now, one more technique. Yes, Miss Nikos?”

“Utilise a grapple,” Nora said, glancing over at Yang.

“Smiths method number seven,” Glynda said, nodding. “Of difficult to apply against most Grim, but against a humanoid opponent, a grapple can allow you to inflict a tremendous amount of damage in a short period, often equalling or exceeding what can be done with a weapon.”

Glynda turned her attention back to the whole class. “In fact, there are innumerable ways you can respond to the situation. What is important that you consider your options and be prepared for it. I’d like you each to prepare a five thousand word essay on the subject by next week.”

There was the expected assortment of groans from the class at that. Glynda ignored them and glanced at the clock.

“I believe we have time for one more bout. Since we have seen the rest of teams JNPR and RWBY, let’s finish up with Mr. Arc and Miss Rose please.”

Reluctantly, Pyrrha and Ruby rose and approached the arena, neither looking particularly eager to be down there.

“You uh, still wouldn’t want to hit a girl, would you Jaune?” Ruby said, looking up at Pyrrha nervously.

“We’re both girls right now,” Pyrrha replied with a shrug, raising her fists. Ruby reluctantly did the same, looking like she wanted to curl up inside her cloak.

“Whenever you are ready,” Glynda said, stepping away.

It quickly became evident that unlike the other members of teams PRNJ and RWBY who had fought so far, neither woman was terribly proficient in unarmed combat. However, while Pyrrha’s form was unpolished, Ruby’s was a disaster. She looked hopelessly out of her depth facing the taller woman. Pyrrha approached her cautiously, hands up in an unpracticed, but effective guard, and Ruby simply gave ground to the larger woman.

Approaching the wall, eventually Ruby threw a punch out of sheer desperation. Despite all her inelegance, the blow did come out fast, although it landed uselessly against Pyrrah’s shoulder. The taller woman barely flinched, and Ruby repeated, throwing a series of flailing blows to similar minimal effect. It was when she brought her legs into play that Pyrrha finally reacted. She blocked the overextended kick, then trapped the leg under her arm.

Off-balance and on one leg, Ruby threw another flailing punch, but Pyrrha simply pushed her forward, tipping Ruby over and onto the ground in a tumble of limbs. Pyrrha followed her down, ending up mounted on top of Ruby with one of the smaller girls arms trapped behind her in a classic rear wrist lock.

Ruby struggled but lacked the strength to shift Pyrrha, and could not get any leverage. After holding her for a second, Pyrrha began to apply pressure to the captive limb, until finally, Ruby slapped the ground. “I give! I give!”

Pyrrha released her instantly, clambering off and offering her a hand up.

“Thanks,” Ruby said, taking her hand.

“No problem,” Pyrrha said easily pulling her up. Ruby looked away, embarrassed at her poor showing.

“Very good, Mr. Arc, you may take your seats.”

She turned to the rest of the class again. “I don’t think I need to go over with those of you who’s preparedness in this area was inadequate. Lessons like this will be a continuing part of this class going forward, understand?”

There was an affirmative noise from the class.

“Now, go hit the showers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as you can tell, I've color-coded the voices to help with some of the ambiguity. I'll go back and fix chapter 1 a little later. Honestly, I wasn't very happy with this chapter. I feel there are a lot of words but not much happens. But I guess it was necessary to move the plot along. As always, thoughts and feedback are welcome.

**Author's Note:**

> **Identification Chart**   
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Many thanks to the people on [#QuestionableQuesting on freenode](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=questionablequesting&uio=d4#), for helping me with this, and putting up with my rambling. Likewise, the primary home for this fic will remain in the NSFW Creative Writing Section of [Questionable Questing](https://forum.questionablequesting.com/) (registration required to view).
> 
> Tags and ratings may change as the story progresses. 
> 
> **On Identification**  
>  After the first two sections, I made a deliberate choice to switch into a 3rd person limited point of view (fly on the wall) and continue to refer to characters by their body identities and genders in the narrative, rather than the identities and gender of their minds. My reasoning for doing this was to portray both the confusion of the situation and also to portray things as they might appear 'on-screen' to you.
> 
> Obviously, it's impossible for a story like this not interact with the concept of identity in one way or the other, which I know is a point of some political controversy. However, it's not my intent to make any kind of political statement about the legitimacy of various identity concepts one way or the other. Identities are called by the narrative as they appear, and by the characters, as they perceive them. If I do more personal points of view later, the name used in the narrative may change to reflect their perception of things.
> 
> Comments and feedback are appreciated.


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